MCSE 2003: Computer Based Training

Factual Questions
1

Just curious if anyone could recommend REALLY good computer based training to take Microsoft latest MCSE and MCSA tests. I’ve looked around and there are lots out there. Ideally I want to find one that does not focus strictly on the test questions but is a little more comprehensive. Cost is no object, I just want the best CBT you can get for the MCSE. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

2

Bongmaster,

  1. This topic would be more appropriate in IMHO.
  2. I tried some CBTs for computer learning a few years back. I work for a Fortune 1000 technology firm, and I have access to quite the library of CBTs, from a few different vendors. My observation on them is that they were crap. Pick up the thickest book on the topic found at your local bookseller’s, read it, and you’ll be heads and tails above anyone who depended on CBTs.
  3. Once you’re beginning to understand the topic, make up some exercises. Learn how to set up a small network. Install 2003 Server. Make two or three 2003 Servers talk to one another. Try to break things. See how Active Directory really works. Try installing different server-side applications.
  4. While you’re studying, lay off your namesake pharmaceutical consumption device. It’s hard to study and get high. :slight_smile:
3

Ok, I will check out the books too. It just seemed to be that CBT would have an edge because it might better expose me to the interface, labs, and that sort of thing. And don’t worry, I know when to lay off and when to partake…never learned anything useful when my mind is unfocused. :slight_smile:

4

The CBTs have their place, but if you’re like me, you breeze through them, learn the screens involved, and wind up not understanding the fundamentals. Most CBTs don’t TEACH the fundamentals.

5

Good point, especially since I’d like to actually be useful to an employer after the training. I have been hearing the same thing from a variety of sources…namely that CBT alone won’t do the trick. Perhaps combining a good textbook and some CBT as a package would be the way to go. I am still open to any recommendations aside from paying $5000 for a training class.